The coating of plastic films or surfaces e.g. polyethylene, polypropylene, etc. for aesthetic or functional purposes is of great utility and importance. A major use of such films is in food packaging.
Electrostatic painting has inherent advantages which would appear to make it particularly desirable for printing on plastic films. The inherent advantages include adaptability to short runs economically, high resolution, on demand printing and good visibility. However, at present, printing on transparent films, especially multi-color printing is commercially performed in multi-head presses, and only in long runs.